CAVA Group Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:CAVA)

CAVA Group, Inc. (NYSE:CAVA) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors purchased 13,252 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 37% compared to the typical volume of 9,642 put options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Theodoros Xenohristos sold 3,252 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.43, for a total transaction of $290,826.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 324,630 shares in the company, valued at $29,031,660.90. This trade represents a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Kelly Costanza sold 12,490 shares of CAVA Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $1,124,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 98,490 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,864,100. This represents a 11.25% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 91,747 shares of company stock valued at $7,970,838. Company insiders own 6.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CAVA Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAVA. Bison Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in CAVA Group during the 4th quarter valued at $208,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of CAVA Group by 14.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 606,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,432,000 after buying an additional 75,828 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of CAVA Group by 17.3% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 236,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,447,000 after acquiring an additional 34,860 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CAVA Group by 9.3% in the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. Finally, Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of CAVA Group by 20.3% in the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 9,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $772,000 after acquiring an additional 1,549 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.15% of the company’s stock.

CAVA Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CAVA opened at $63.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 122.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 1.69. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.25. CAVA Group has a fifty-two week low of $43.41 and a fifty-two week high of $98.79.

CAVA Group (NYSE:CAVA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 19th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.03. CAVA Group had a net margin of 4.79% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The firm had revenue of $438.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $360.89 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.22 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 32.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that CAVA Group will post 0.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on CAVA. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of CAVA Group from $75.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of CAVA Group in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $100.00 target price on the stock. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $106.00 price target on shares of CAVA Group in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Argus set a $92.00 price target on shares of CAVA Group in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of CAVA Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $86.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CAVA Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.54.

CAVA Group Company Profile

CAVA Group, Inc (NYSE: CAVA) is a leading fast-casual restaurant company specializing in Mediterranean-inspired cuisine. Operating under the CAVA brand, the company offers customizable bowls, pitas and salads built around a variety of proteins, grains, fresh vegetables and house-made spreads. With a focus on high-quality ingredients and made-to-order preparation, CAVA aims to deliver a casual yet elevated dining experience for dine-in, takeout and catering customers.

Founded in 2011 in the Washington, DC metro area by Ike Grigoropoulos, Dimitri Katsanis and Brett Schulman, CAVA has pursued an aggressive growth strategy that included the 2018 acquisition of Zoe’s Kitchen.